Islington's October half term is 26 to 30 October 2026. Ten things actually on, from Halloween canal boats to puppet shows, with prices from the organisers.

October half term for Islington’s council schools runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 (Islington Council). Some academies differ: St Mary Magdalene Academy is off for two weeks from 19 October, and Highbury Grove adds training days on 23 October and 2 November. The full comparison is on our Islington school term dates page.

Below are ten things on in the borough that week, each checked on the organiser’s own website on 25 September 2026.

The quick answer

  • Half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, with Halloween on Saturday 31 October.
  • Free: Freightliners City Farm, Islington Museum and, for under-18s, the Estorick Collection.
  • Book early: the London Canal Museum’s Halloween tunnel boat trips on 29, 30 and 31 October, from £11.25 a child.

Updated 4 October: the Canal Museum’s Halloween family day is confirmed for Tuesday 27 October only, at £10.50 adult and £5.50 child. Angel Central has announced a free trick or treat on Saturday 31 October, 4pm to 6pm; everything for Halloween itself is on our Islington Halloween page.

Ten things on in Islington over half term

1. Halloween tunnel boat trips, London Canal Museum

On Thursday 29, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, the museum on New Wharf Road, N1, swaps its normal boat timetable for Halloween trips through the Islington Tunnel, with ghost stories in the dark. Trips leave at 11am, 12pm and 2pm and last about 50 minutes; the 3pm “Scream Tea” trip runs about 80 minutes with a Halloween cream tea. Tunnel trips cost £17.50 adult, £15.50 concession, £11.25 child (0 to 15); the Scream Tea is £26.75, £24.50 and £19.50. Every ticket includes museum entry, and every passenger needs one, including babies (London Canal Museum).

2. Spooky Halloween family days, London Canal Museum

On Tuesday 27 October the museum runs a family day with an underwater monster craft, a 25-minute “ghostly” boat trip to St Pancras Lock and back, and a spooky version of its trail. It costs £10.50 for adults and £5.50 for children aged 0 to 15, with boat seats booked on the museum’s page. A Halloween section on that page is headed 28 October, but its key facts list gives 27 October as the only October date (London Canal Museum). Ordinary museum entry is £8 adult, £4 for ages 7 to 15, £17 family, and free for under-7s (admission).

3. Pip and Posy Live on Stage, Little Angel Theatre

A 45-minute show for ages 2 to 5, based on the Axel Scheffler picture books, at the main theatre on Dagmar Passage, N1, until 22 November. Tickets are £16 adult, £14 child, or £8.50 for everyone at the 4.45pm Wednesday shows and £10 at the Friday teatime shows. A relaxed performance is on Sunday 1 November (Little Angel Theatre).

4. The Pied Piper: A Rat’s Tale, Little Angel Studios

The Pied Piper story told by the rat, with puppetry and original music, for ages 5 and up, 50 minutes, until 7 November. £16 adult, £14 child; all tickets £8.50 at 4.45pm Thursday shows and £10 at 5.15pm Friday shows. There is a BSL-interpreted performance on Saturday 24 October at 2pm (Little Angel Theatre).

5. Freightliners City Farm, Holloway

The farm on Sheringham Road, N7, is free to drop in to. It opens 10.30am to 4.30pm every day except Tuesday. Its visit page says closing moves to 3.30pm “from Sunday 26/10”, a note that reads as last year’s, when 26 October was a Sunday, so allow for a 3.30pm close (Freightliners City Farm).

6. Islington Museum, Clerkenwell

Free, no booking. The current exhibition is Animals! A beastly history of human behaviour, about Islington’s wild, working and pet animals in the 19th century (Islington Council). The museum at 245 St John Street, EC1, is open 10am to 5pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday, closed Wednesdays and Sundays and daily from 1pm to 2pm for lunch (visiting).

7. Estorick Collection, Canonbury Square

Under-18s go free to the museum of modern Italian art at 39a Canonbury Square, N1; adults pay £9.50. The exhibition Wanda and Marion Wulz: Avant-garde Photography in 20th-Century Italy runs to 20 December. Open Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 6pm and Sunday noon to 5pm, closed Monday and Tuesday, and open to 9pm on Thursday 29 October, the last Thursday of the month (Estorick Collection).

8. Family Art Day, Estorick Collection

The Sunday before half term, 25 October, 10am to 12 noon, is an out-of-hours gallery session for families with children of all ages (Estorick Collection events).

9. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake, Sadler’s Wells

For older children, Peter Wright and Galina Samsova’s production is at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on Rosebery Avenue from Wednesday 28 to Saturday 31 October, from £15 plus a £4 transaction fee. It runs 2 hours 45 minutes with two intervals (Sadler’s Wells). Note that Motionhouse’s dance-circus show Hidden, on the same week, is at Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford, not in Islington.

10. Adventure playgrounds

Islington’s eleven adventure playgrounds offer free, supervised play for children aged 6 and over who live or go to school in the borough; children must register with the provider first. Half-term hours have not been published yet. In term time, Cornwallis, King Henry’s Walk, Three Corners, Waterside and Barnard open 3.30pm to 6.30pm Tuesday to Friday, with free family play on Saturdays from 11.30am to 4.30pm, and Cape opens 3.15pm to 6.15pm on weekdays (Islington Council). In the summer holidays the Awesome Adventure Play sites opened 10.30am to 1.30pm and 2.30pm to 5.30pm with a free lunch under the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

After half term

Getting there: see Islington tube and train times and, if driving, parking in Islington.

Still to be confirmed

  • Adventure playground half-term hours and any Holiday Activities and Food sessions, usually published by the council shortly before the holiday. We will check in mid-October.
  • Islington Museum’s half-term activities, which it lists on Eventbrite rather than on its own pages.